Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, second son of the late deposed Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, is said to have been freed under an amnesty, in a move which could fuel further instability.

His father's preferred successor, he had been held by a militia in the town of Zintan for the past six years.

The Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Battalion said he had been released on Friday but he has not been shown in public.

A source has told the BBC he is in the Tobruk area of eastern Libya.

His lawyer, Khaled al-Zaidi, also said he had been released but would not say which city Saif al-Islam had travelled to for security reasons.The Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Battalion said it was acting on a request from the "interim government".

That government - based in the east of the country - had already offered amnesty to Saif al-Islam.

However, he has been sentenced to death in absentia by a court in Tripoli, the west of the country, where control is in the hands of the rival, UN-backed Government of National Accord.

If confirmed, the release of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi would add another unpredictable element to Libya's unstable mix.

He was detained in the desert in November 2011 trying to flee to Niger, and later appeared missing several fingers.

The former playboy often appeared in the West as the public face of the Gaddafi regime and was his father's heir-apparent.

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While reviled by many - at home and abroad - he retains some support in Libya and could try to re-enter the political fray here.

The 44-year-old Saif al-Islam - who was controversially granted a PhD by the London School of Economics in 2008 - was captured in November 2011 after three months on the run following the end of Muammar Gaddafi's decades-long rule.

He was previously known for playing a key role in building relations with the West after 2000, and had been considered the reformist face of his father's regime.

But after the 2011 uprising, he found himself accused of incitement to violence and murdering protesters.

Four years later, he was sentenced to death by firing squad following a trial involving 30 of Gaddafi's close associates.

Saif al-Islam: Heir to prisoner

-June 1972: Born in Tripoli, Libya, second son of Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi-February 2011: Uprising against Gaddafi government begins-June 2011: International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant for Saif al-Islam for crimes against humanity-August 2011: Leaves the capital after Tripoli falls to anti-government forces; flees to Bani Walid-October 2011: Father and younger brother killed-19 November 2011: Captured by militia as he tries to flee south to Niger. Imprisoned in Zintan-July 2015: Sentenced to death by a Tripoli court in absentia-June 2017: Reportedly released after being granted amnesty by one of Libya's two competing governments